An input apparatus such as a touch pad or the like for operating a pointer displayed on a display screen is known (see Patent Document 1).
The input apparatus of Patent Document 1 improves a pointer operation feeling by correcting the inputted coordinate point so that against a circle-like input operation, a detection characteristic of the input apparatus becomes close to a circular characteristic.    Patent Document 1: JP 2011-100381A
When a user selects his or her desired button image from among multiple button images aligned along a horizontal line or a vertical line, the user moves a pointer or cursor to the target button image by moving his or her fingertip along a button image alignment direction and performs a selection operation.
However, when the user performs a sliding operation on an operation surface of the input apparatus in order to move the pointer or cursor along the horizontal line or the vertical line, it is difficult in some cases for the user to slide the fingertip along the horizontal line or the vertical line. A conceivable reason for this is, for example, that the user may slide the fingertip while putting his or her wrist, elbow or the like on a structure body in a vehicle compartment. Thus, even in cases where the user is performing the operation with the intention to move the cursor or pointer along the horizontal line or the vertical line, the movement of the cursor or pointer on a display may not be consistent with the user's intention in some cases because it is difficult to perform the sliding operation along the horizontal line or the vertical line. As a result, the user may feel strangeness with the resultant display.
Since the input apparatus of Patent Document 1 only causes the detection characteristic of the input apparatus against the user's circle-like input operation to become close to a circular characteristic, it is impossible to eliminate the strange feeling when the cursor or pointer on the display is moved in the button image alignment direction.